Getting Started with Email, Contacts and Calendar in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0 has been designed with new built-in email, calendar and contacts apps, combining tablet multitasking capabilities with convenient PIM capabilities. We call this the “Universal Inbox”. Staying on top of your personal and work accounts in addition to your favorite social networks (like Facebook®, Twitter® and LinkedIn®) while using your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet just got a lot easier!

To help get you prepared for BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, here’s an overview of how to set up your email, calendar and contacts, as well as steps to set up your favorite social networking accounts.

Adding a new Email, Calendar and Contact account to BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

Setting up a new personal or work email account is quick. BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 will automatically populate your account server settings, which means that all you need to do is enter your email address and password to set up a new account. In the event that your email settings cannot be automatically configured, you can manually specify them in the advanced settings.

To add a new email, calendar and contact account, complete the steps below. After setting up a new account, should you need to review or modify the settings, select “Accounts” from the PlayBook Settings menu and tap on the account you’d like to modify.

After successfully setting up your account, return to the home screen and tap on “Messages, Contacts or Calendar” to access your data. An important thing to keep in mind is that you may need to wait briefly for your accounts to synchronize completely.

Adding a social networking account in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

On top of adding your personal or work email accounts, you can also integrate your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn social networking accounts. What’s really convenient is that the Messages, Contacts and Calendar apps are designed to merge multiple accounts, including your social networking accounts. This means, for example, that whenever you view a contact, you’ll be able to view information from multiple sources, merged into one contact card that allows you to easily grab their contact information and recent status updates as well as other benefits. To add one or all of these accounts, complete the steps below.

Adding a Facebook account

Connect and share with your circle of friends by adding your Facebook account. This will allow you to synchronize your friends, messages, events and your friend’s birthdays from Facebook into your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet.

By adding a LinkedIn account, you can synchronize connections and messages with the Messages and Contacts app. Adding a LinkedIn account will also allow you view LinkedIn Profiles directly from the Contacts app, which is really handy.

Removing an account from BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

If you need to remove an account you previously set up, complete the steps below:

1. On the BlackBerry tablet home screen, tap “Settings” (Gear Icon)
2. Select “Accounts” then tap the Pencil icon
3. Tap on the Trashcan icon next to the account you’d like to remove.

Okay, so at this point we’ve touched on how to add and remove accounts, as well as some of the benefits of the Messages, Contacts and Calendar apps. Keep an eye out for more BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 blog posts in the near future, and make sure you leave a comment with any questions you might have as well!

[…] Americas 2011, and we’ve since provided details on how the new features – such as the integrated email and PIM apps – allow you to communicate more effectively, integrate socially, connect to your BlackBerry® […]

[…] case you haven’t seen my post Getting Started with Messages, Contacts and Calendar in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, I’d recommend checking it out as it contains instructions on how to add various accounts to your […]

[…] The first time you launch the Messages app, if you haven’t configured any accounts, a prompt will appear with a “Set Up Now” option. Tap this option to be taken to the Accounts setting screen where you can add a new account, such as your personal email address(es) or a Facebook® social networking account. For assistance with adding a new account, check out my post on Getting Started with Email, Contacts and Calendar in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0. […]

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